i'll tell you what, i asked for a signature win, and that was nice right there. >> yes, sir. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight he's the biggest star in the republican party and he's not running for president. governor chris christie answers questions. >> don't twist what i said. >> you don't even know the question. >> what's the question? >> do you think warren buffett needs as much attention as the most vulnerable? >> yes. thank you. >> and why he's got this weird man crush on the boss.

>> four pictures of bruce springsteen and he doesn't even like you. >> i like him. so it unrequited love. >> only in america, does size really matter when it comes to politics? >> we don't take any victory laps. every day i come into this building, i have a sense of wonder and say how did i become wonder. you just shake your head about it. >> this piers morgan interview starts now. >> thank you for inviting me in here. >> yes, sir. >> four pictures of bruce springsteen and he doesn't even like you. >> i like him. it unrequited love. but i got to hang with it. >> talking unrequited love, i know for a fact you've been watching your show because donald trump told me. you had dinner with him and you told him. my favorite question is how many times have you been properly in love? which leads me to the fundamental issue about mitt romney.

why are so few members of his own party not properly in love with mitt romney? >> i think he's a very reserved guy. in the time that we're in right now, which is a very tumultuous, angry, emotional time, at the moment reserved is not what the primary electorate seems to want. i they's one part of it. i think lit be a real asset to him in the general election. people want someone who they believe will fight the president. i think governor romney will do that on the issues. they seem to want something more emotive at the moment. i think that ebbs and flows it and it will eventually come back his way as we look at these

contests coming up at the end of the month and on to super tuesday. >> but what you're seeing is a real battle for the heart and soul of the republican party and clear choices are emerging. not just on policy but also on character and on the very passion you just hinted at because i sense that one of the reasons rick santorum is gaining such momentum is not necessarily that he is in reality more passionate than mitt romney or that he cares more, it's that he sounds like he does. a lot of romney supporters say to me why isn't he giving more of himself to us? why isn't he beating his chest more? why isn't he giving us more passion? why doesn't he look like he wants this more? >> i don't think anybody can come to the conclusion he doesn't want it. this guy works incredibly hard, extraordinarily hard to get out and meet people and win votes. i don't think it's that. again, there are certain personalities. you interview lots of people. i would not be called the reserved time but romney is.

he's a reserved kind of guy and i think people need to get to know him more. i have told him i think it benefits him to get out there more, let people see the family side of him, see him as a father, a husband, a grandfather. when you see that, you see the enormous compassion he has, how much he cares about his kids, his grand kids and their future. >> i think you make a good point. it is that lack of personal stuff which is giving rick santorum a bit of a benefit. he's out there, he has a strong family, he's a catholic like you and, again, the criticism i hear about mitt romney compared to rick santorum, it was summed up by "the economist" magazine that said rick santorum comes over as more authentic. in a way that mitt romney doesn't. mitt romney, because he's perceived to have flip-flopped on issues, because he comes over as robotic, comes across as somewhat slippery.

their word, not mine. do you accept any of that criticism? >> i don't accept the criticism. i don't think he's slippery. i think his views evolved over time and we've admitted that. and i think we do want people who are always reevaluating positions and issues to make sure it's something they're still comfortable with and willing to fight for. >> but here's the problem, the lesson we learned is we will no longer abandon and apologize for the policies and principles that made the country great for a hollow victory in november. now he's banging that drum and i think he's banging it quite successfully to many conservatives. what he's saying is i am true to my principles and they're conservative principles. if you study his record, it's very hard to find much evidence of what some would say is opportunist being flip-flopping. >> senator santorum has also been one of the biggest spenders in washington, d.c. and was a

part of a huge spending spree while he was in washington and trying to bring tons of money back to pennsylvania. so let's not go overboard with this he's true to his core conservative principles. i could point out a number of ways that rick has at times varied from that. now he would argue -- >> give me a few examples. >> he would argue, on the other hand, that that was his job as pennsylvania senator was to try to bring money back to the state. i would say that was one of your jobs but don't try to argue to me on the other hand that that is a core conservative principle. here's my view of it. i believe that you should never compromise your principles, but i always believe that there is a boulevard between getting everything you want and compromising your principles and the job of the leader is to negotiate the vehicle on to that boulevard and move it down so we can make progress. romney will do that and i think he'll do it better than anybody offering himself for president right now, including the president, who has proven he can't do that.

>> be honest, the moment you heard the following words out of mitt romney's mouth, did you do what the rest of us did and went what? "i am severely conservative." >> i wouldn't have used that phrase. you can't have it both ways. you want people to be spontaneous and speak from the heart. at times that means words will come out of your mouth that weren't perfect. if you want something that's perfectly rehearsed, if you want a theater performance, go to the president of the united states. he reads off the teleprompter, he gives a theater performance. if that's what you want, if you think that's genuineness, then he's your guy to vote for. i happen not to. so you know what? i'm out there enough unscripted. i know once in a while words come out of your mouth that you would have liked to have picked better. but people are picking on mitt romney now. he do you have used a bunch of different words. he used severely. i wouldn't have used it and i guess he wouldn't either but what's the difference? >> well, the difference is that

many people in the republican party actually think the long thing he is is severely conservative and that's himself problem. but they look at someone like rick santorum and they think he's indisputably severely conservative. and that comes back to my thing at the start about the battle over the heart and soul of the party is which way is the party instinctively now going to go? >> i think you have to look at the sum of someone's record. i looked at the sum of governor romney's record and i believe he's the best person to lead our party and the best person to lead our country through these difficult times. >> you know him better than many people. for somebody like you -- when i last interviewed you, i was pushing you to do what everyone in the party was desperate for at the time was for you to say i'm going to run and i still think you would have been a very serious contender. but you chose not to for reasons we discussed at the time. and you put your support behind mitt romney. what are the characteristics of romney that are not getting over at the moment that you see when

you speak to him privately that persuaded you to put your reputation behind him? >> one, he has integrity. two, i think he's very smart. three, i think he cares deeply about the issues. four, i think he has the experience as an executive to turn ideas and concepts into reality. all those things are incredibly important. and lastly i absolutely do believe that this guy is a conservative and that he will govern in a conservative way for the future of our country. and so there are five things that i see and i think a lot of other people see, too. we all get into this hyper, heavy breathing that we go through about the last election, the last time people voted. you know, mitt romney's won a state convincingly like florida that is a microcosm of our entire country. and i suggest to you that in some of the other cases where senator santorum won, he didn't even win any delegates. this is about getting 1,144

delegates, who is going to get there? >> it is but it's also about momentum. you a political animal to your absolute fiber. >> thank you. >> i knew you'd like that. but you know and mitt romney will know that the incredible momentum after florida, everyone was saying, february is going to be easy, home run into super tuesday, game over. looks a very different picture now you have to admit that. >> i'm so shocked that the pundits were wrong. please, i have to fall over in absolute shock. we'll need to take a moment to revive me and continue the interview. >> you want a moment of silence for the pundits? >> they were wrong and they continue to be wrong. people will decide this election, people of the republican party, and i believe in the end mitt romney will get the majority of delegates he needs to get. but you guys have lots of time to fill on the cable news networks so you got to talk about something. >> but the santorum surge is a juicy bone. it's exciting. >> well, congratulations. but it doesn't mean i have to buy it. >> but it's real.

it's happening. there is a santorum surge. >> he won three contests in an evening, congratulations. that's great, good for him. >> you're not feeling the surge? >> no, i'm really not. i'm not feeling the surge. we've gemiven out 10% of the delegates. talk to me when we're at 50, 60% of delegates and we can see if we've got a surge yet. >> what are the key things you think mitt romney is not doing or the campaign isn't doing. what's going wrong? what does he need to do to get back on track? >> you think i'm telling you that? >> you might give me a few little teasers. >> definitely not. when i have advice to give to mitt romney, i'd give it to mitt romney and not anybody else. >> if you were being critical of him -- >> i wouldn't be. >> why not? >> i haven't. >> you were when he didn't release his tax returns. >> that was a suggestion. >> there's an inconsistency. >> no, there isn't.

>> 24r there is. >> there isn't. >> people look at you as the passion part of the vehicle, that you're in his engine and you're the one giving all the passion. they need it from mitt romney. he's the candidate. he's the guy that has to somehow now find another gear. i suppose what i'm getting at is where is that gear going to come from? what have we not seen so far? >> it's going to come from inside him. and if he doesn't, he won't win. listen, the end of the day i'm a surrogate, i'm a supporter. i'll do everything to help him win the nomination and the presidency. in the end he has to win the nomination and the presidency. where will the next gear come from? if it is going to come from somewhere, it's going to come from in here. that's part of the reasons why we have campaigns is for people to see that and test it. i've seen it one-on-one and i believe it's there. i believe the american people will see it. but it's not my

responsibility to make sure that happen. what i won't do is get him elected. i can't. nor can anybody else. that's up to mitt romney. >> let's take a break and come back and talk specifically about the economy. i want to talk to you about what mitt romney said apparently not caring about the poor. you care about the poor, governor? >> sure do. >> let's explore that in a moment. ♪

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will be giving away passafree copies through mercedes-benz of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. let's talk about the economy. there's no doubt that despite your best efforts to portray it as a continuing fiasco, it is improving and that is good news for barack obama and you can see it in the latest poll ratings. one poll i read shows that president obama's approval rating in new jersey is significantly up than where it was in november. this has to be a concern for the republicans as they go into the election battle, isn't? >> i don't think it's my obligation to characterize the

economy as a fiasco. here in new jersey, it's getting better. we've taken a lot of affirmative steps beyond what's going on in washington to put people back to work. 60,000 private sector jobs since i've been governor. but the fact is, the president should be judged on the entirety of his term and if he took the steps that were necessary and appropriate right from the beginning to be able to make our economy better than what it is today. listen, i think there's going to be a real robust debate this fall on what the proper role of government is in the economy and whether or not the obama approach has been successful or successful enough and whether another approach by our nominee and governor romney would be better. >> did you approve instinctively, yourself, of the bailout of the auto industry? >> i got to tell you the truth, i didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it because -- >> now that i've asked you to think about it. >> i try to give things more thought than three or four

seconds -- >> you've only given it three or four seconds thought? >> well, right now. since you just asked me. >> let me rephrase the question. >> what i was working on at the time that was going on was getting elected governor in state that had 10% unemployment, $13 billion in deficits, fee increases in the eight years before i became governor. >> i'm asking you because mitt romney has come under fire for continuing to be critical of the bailout, even when you have gm releasing record profits, clearly indicating that the bailout worked. >> well, when you have mitt romney on, you should ask him. >> what do you think of it? >> i just told you, i don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. >> you don't have a view of the bailout of the auto industry? >> what i have is a view of my state, because that's my job. >> i get that.

>> but you're going to continue to ask. i'm not going to give you a better answer. we can go on to continue to go back and forth or can you move on to the next car. >> the reason i'm asking, is i'm sensing, and your reply is giving me this sense even more, that the reason you don't want to answer is you would disagree with mitt romney. you think the bailout was a success. >> i've given the president plenty of credit when he deserves it. >> does he deserve it for the bailout? >> you can try four, five different ways. i'm not going to give an opinion as something as complex as that issue until i've had time to examine it. >> is it complex? >> sure it is. >> auto industry going bust. barack obama decides the way to recover it is to do a big bailout, which he does, which is very controversial and is a huge national issue that affects everybody. if gm had gone under, whatever it may be huge problems for the country. and it indisputably works. and i suppose i just would like to hear you, if you believe it,

say the president was right, he deserves credit. >> i know that you would like to hear it -- >> if you believe it. >> i know you'd like to hear it. what i'm saying is i'm not giving you an answer on that because i haven't thought through it enough. my job is to be governor of new jersey. i know you think i'm supposed to be conversant in every national topic at the moment and have an opinion on every national topic, you'd love for me to do that but i'm not going to. >> you drive a car, don't you? >> yes, do i. not anymore really. i ride in a car most of the time. they don't let me drive anymore. but i ride in a gm car. >> what is your view ideologically of bailouts? >> my view is the government should have as little involvement in the private sector as it possibly can. from a general philosophical perspective, that's where i come from. but we're not going to take the next leap, even though you may try to, into getting into the bailout. when i've had time to look at that time and study, it i'll give you a reasoned opinion for my perspective.

but i get in trouble and rightfully so when you talk about things that important off the cuff. i don't think you should do that. even though it might be entertaining television, i'm not going to do it. >> are you pleased it's worked? >> i'm pleased people are working. anyplace where people are working, general motors, chrysler, caterpillar, any of the other big companies, microsoft, ibm, facebook, i'm pleased when people are working and there's jobs, look in new jersey where we have 60,000 new private sector jobs since i've become governor and unemployment has gone down over a full point. that's what i'm really happy about. >> what do you think about this issue, others don't agree with me about this, when you take a company like apple, which is one of the greatest companies ever created, one of america's great companies now, generating hundreds of billions in profit that they employ more people in china than they do in america. is it not time that companies like apple making the kind of money that they're doing to take a lead and say we're going to take a hit, we're going to bring

for argument sake 10% of that workforce from china back to america? because i always thought if they did that, they'd get such goodwill from the american public, they'd make up the money anyway. >> i think we should let business people make those decision, not government. >> i'm trying to help the jobless situation in america by encouraging big companies to take a moral, responsible lead by doing things that aren't necessarily 100% in the interest of their ever fattening shareholders but in the interest of the national interest. >> the ever fattening shareholders are the people who have pensions who are invested in apple, the people who have iras and 401(k)s invested in apple. they have more money for their retirement and more money for their kids' education. more money to pay their mortgages. so my point is i don't think demagoguing that piece is necessarily a good thing for to you do. secondly, if you're really concerned about that, you really want to do that, then leave cnn, be the ceo of a company and lead

them in a way that's both profitable and beneficial to all the people you want to be beneficial for. i think that would be fine. >> is it not a debate that's worth having? >> sure it is. have the debate. >> that's what i'm trying to do. >> i think i'm having it with you. >> you're telling me to leave cnn and join a company. >> if that's what you want to do, if you want to set policy -- >> it's not about setting policy. it's about whether enough people with influence like yourself went out and publicly called on very successful american companies to actually bring some of the workforce from specifically china back to america, by doing it in a way that doesn't necessarily fit their shareholder need for ever more profit but serves the american national interests, wouldn't that be a good thing? >> i think what would be a good thing is for to us allow the people, the shareholders and the executives of those companies to make their decisions. and to the extent anybody feels as if they want to speak out on some of those things, they

should speak out in an informed way and do that. but the fact is that apple has been pretty successful doing what it's doing and it's been very successful for its shareholders, many of whom whom are people who live in middle america, who are counting on apple's success not only for the products they produce but for the profits they're producing that help their retirement, help their kids college education funds and help them to pay the bills from day to day. so i think the fact that apple is successful is a good thing. just even absent the jobs piece it's a good thing for america. >> where mitt romney came out with a clumsily worded comment about apparently not caring about the poor. i think we sort of knew what he was getting at but it sounded bad. coming on the back of his other comments about a ten grand bet and so on, it allowed this sense that he's disconnected from the real americans to get ever more attention. what did you make of that when he said it? what do you think about where the priorities should lie?

because whichever way you play that clip, even if you play every single word and take him exactly in the context he wanted it to sound like, he's still prioritizing middle-class americans in his head over the poor, isn't he? >> all i can tell you is my view. and my view is here in new jersey i'm responsible for every new jerseyian, no matter where they live, how much they make, no how many children they have, whether they lived here their whole lives or just moved here, whether the kid are in school or whether they're retired, living on a fixed income. as the governor, as president, you have to be responsible for everyone and you need to care about everyone the exact same way. as governor my view is all of them deserve our attention. of course we're not going to let the most vulnerable suffer and we haven't in new jersey and we shouldn't in america. but on the other hand, i'm not going to get into this class warfare business where certain people are more important than others. everyone deserves attention in our country. everyone deserves to have the government be responsive to

their concerns and their needs. >> before we go to break, do you really believe that warren buffett, for example -- >> i'm so tired of talking about warren buffett. what are you going to bring up next, his secretary? this is the old song. don't twist what i said. piers -- >> no, no, no. i haven't asked the question. >> i know the question. >> what's the question? >> you think warren buffett needs as much attention from the government as the vulnerable? >> yes. >> thank you. let's go to break. >> what's the answer? >> since i got the question right, i'm not answering the question, how about that? that's my gift when you think i didn't have it right. >> we're going to go to a break and i'm going to reward you for guessing my question by making you answer. >> good. >> you agree. >> with your point. [ speaking in japanese ] yeah, do you have anything for a headache... like excedrin, ohhh, bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack, it's my head. no, bayer advanced aspirin, this is made for pain.

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today we will maintain both our fiscal discipline and drive new jersey into a new era of growth. today it is time to put the new jersey comeback into high gear. [ applause ] >> so we left everyone on the cliff hanger. where i was trying to press you to say, and i think it's a valid question, i honestly do. >> i know you do. that's why you're asking it. >> i think every politician has to prioritize, particularly if you're the president or state governor. is it right that taking your argument to its natural

conclusion that warren buffett is as much in your head for his economic situation as the poorest person in the new jersey? >> first of all, warren doesn't live in new jersey. i don't have to worry about him. secondly, that's not what i said. you say that's the logical conclusion of my statement. i disagree with you. let's look at what i've done in new jersey. that's the best gauge to judge a politician. not what they say in a talk show with you but what they've done. in two years what we've done is protect the most vulnerables are even when we had to cut $13 billion in state spending over two years, increase funding to hospitals to take care of the poor to make sure charity care was available and increase funding to federally qualified health centers to make sure people had access to health care, made sure that people at the lowest rung of our economy were being taken care of. so of course during difficult economic times you're most concerned about the people who have the potential to suffer the most. >> that's all i wanted to hear.

that's the only answer i was after. >> that's logical. >> you've handed over your budget today for new jersey. one of the key planks for this is you want a 10% income tax reduction for everyone in new jersey. very controversial. tell me about this. >> well, it's part of what i was talking about earlier. everybody shared in the sacrifice in terms of the two years leading up to this. the difficult choices we had to make in the budget. the fact is tax policy should be fair to everybody and what we're doing here in new jersey is everyone will get a 10% tax cut. even those who don't pay income taxes, we'll increase the earned income credit by 20%. so as long as you have a job, we're going to increase that by 20%. and they've earned the right to keep some of that money because believe me, if they send to down here, the people down the hall figure out way to spend it. i'd rather have them keep, it invest it in their families and let them decide how to spend the money. >> how many billionaires are there in new jersey? >> don't know the answer to that

question. >> roughly? >> i don't have a clue. the top 1% of the people in new jersey pay 41% of the income tax. >> warren buffett keeps screaming to be taxed more. >> well, he should just write a check and shut up and just contribute, okay? the fact of the matter is that i'm tired of hearing about it. if he wants to give the government more money, he has the ability to write a check. go ahead and write it. >> let's talk about some of the other big social issues which are raging at the moment. in new jersey the whole issue of gay marriage has blown up. you're suggesting you may bring a referendum on this so the people in new jersey can vote. tell me about the thinking behind that. >> first off, my view and my position is that marriage should be between one man and one woman. it always has been my position. it remains so. i ran that way, told people that it was apissue in the campaign,

made myself very clear. now that the legislature has passed that piece of legislation, then i will veto it because that's what i promised do and that's what i think is the right thing do. however, i know this is a very emotional, divisive issue in my state. i suggested to the legislature in a way -- the only way we have to amend our constitution in new jersey, which is by referendum, let's put it on the ballot and let people decide. if the people in new jersey as some the same-sex advocates of marriage support, i'm willing to take that risk because i trust the people of the state. >> are you worried -- i know you're a catholic, as is rick santorum, as am i. it's a hot debate for any catholic, never mind a politician, but for a catholic. are you concerned, though, as a politician who is very ambitious and may well have presidential aspirations in the future -- i won't ask that, we'll just assume that as a given, otherwise why would you be in politics? >> you're just lucky i'm going

to let you go on that one. >> maybe we'll come back to it. are you worried you're beginning to slightly out of touch given that seven states have legalized gay marriage, washington being the latest, given that others are likely to follow. >> wait second. you're suggesting that because my position is in step with 43 of the 50 states that proves i'm out of step? >> it would have been in step with 50 of the states but now it's only 43. my point is -- >> still a pretty healthy majority. >> i won't compromise my principles for politics. >> ever? >> no. not my principle. >> to you get flak from gay friends for this? >> some. yeah. >> what do they say to you? >> we have a robust conversation about why i have the position i have and they have the position they have.

>> do they accuse you directly of being bigoted? >> no. >> would they have a right to? >> no. >> it's not a bigoted position? >> absolutely not. >> how do you characterize it? rick santorum has taken huge heat for being apparently bigoted. he always says i'm being biblical. this is my religious belief. >> listen, it's my belief, my core belief. i tell people that. and my friends, whether they be homosexual or not, know me and they know that i'm not bigoted. >> what do you think about the issue of contraception? again, i guess because you're a catholic you would be opposed to it? >> listen, i don't have -- i don't have any problem with people using contraception. i think it's a personal choice. >> simple as that? >> yeah. >> what do you think about the whole debate that came out recently? >> i think it's a distraction. and i think -- and i think that while it's a very important issue and that there are people

who feel fiercely on both sides of the question of obamacare, not on contraception, though there is some debate about that as well as but i think the larger debate that's being had here is the issue of obamacare and the strictures being put in place. >> their argument is that the mandate -- i think in new jersey there's been a mandate that has allowed people who work for catholic institutions to actually have birth control. are you personally in favor of that? >> that's the law of the state and the legislature put it in effect long before i came here and it's my job to enforce the law. but the fact is that this is a debate for the folks to have who are on the national ticket. they're having that. the folks who are running in the primary. and from my perspective, i think that we should get on to other issues at this point. i think this one's been fairly well beaten over at this point. everyone has their positions. the president has his, which he's changed over the course of the past couple weeks pretty significantly. so maybe i guess his first position wasn't a principled position because now he backed

off it because he got political heat. that's the difference between the president and i. if have i a principled position, i'm going to stick by it. he had what i have to assume was a principled position on it and he's already backed off it and continues to be back pedaling. >> we've been running a theme on the show about keeping america great. i want to come back and directly get out of you what you think america needs to do as a country to keep itself great. if there was a pill

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governor, let's talk about keeping america great. it's a more positive way of saying america has huge problems, we've all had it, we're all doomed. what do you think the essence is of keeping america great? what do americans need to be thinking about is. >> americans needs to be thinking of the extraordinary gifts this country makes available to them, of opportunity, to be able to live where you want to live, pick the career you want to pick and really be restricted still today only by your own ambition, your willingness to work hard and what to strive for. if you look around the world, we are still really unique. you look at a guy like mark zuckerberg, who is about to become famously wealthy officially in the next couple of months, a kid sitting in his

dorm room at harvard who then turns around and creates a company that has 850 million members now and maybe $100 billion worth -- >> that's the american dream. >> it's only in america. it started with a great idea. it wasn't just that. i know mark. he works extraordinarily hard. he cares deeply about the product that he's putting out there and about the influence he's having on society. and so, you know, that's still available for everybody in america. that's what we need to focus on is to make sure that government doesn't do anything from a governmental perspective to restrict americans' ability to both do it and dream it. >> you've handed over your budget today for new jersey. obviously a bit of a difference in your budget between $29.4 billion and barack obama's last one of $3.37 trillion. you would accept that?

>> yes, i would. >> what has been the ideology behind your decision making for the new jersey budget. how could that apply successfully in your view to america? >> make the difficult decisions without regard to anything other that be what you think is in the best interest of the state. for instance, we have a huge medicare/medicaid problem at the federal level. here in new jersey we've had a huge pension benefit problem. we passed reform and we seeing the benefits in our budget now for that. but at the same time i'm going to make the single largest contribution to the public pension system that any governor made, over $1 billion in one year in this budget. so you need to keep faith with the people counting on you but you also need to make the difficult decisions and ask everyone to sacrifice. if i say one phrase capture is what we've been trying to do, shared sacrifice, shared benefit. >> you were a federal prosecutor. you fought 130 cases. >> in political corruption we won 130 cases without a defeat. >> never lost? >> no. >> you ever lost an election? >> a few. >> how many? >> two.

>> what did you learn about yourself through defeat? >> always to be yourself and not to listen to others in year ear, the consultants. the others who try to tack you and turn you and color you. be yourself, you have no regrets and i think earlier in my political life i listened to those folks more than i should have. later on both in my time as a prosecutor and now as governor, i'm just myself. and there are ups and downs to that, of being yourself. but i'm human and people see who i am. >> can you be true to yourself completely as president? or is the job too now predicated on having to do deals over time with the opposition to get anything done? >> i don't think the two are mutually exclusive. i think you can be true to yourself and still make bargains with people, make compromises. i don't think compromise is a dirty word. i'm doing it all the time in new jersey and accomplishing great

things. >> people have said to me about chris christie i love that guy, he's a fighter, he's a character, all the things you'd want to hear. can we assume that at some stage you might run? >> i don't think you can assume it because, you know, only god knows what life brings you. it's an old yiddish saying, men plan and god laughs. i think what i want to do is do this job as best i can and if later on there's opportunities that come my way, challenges that i want to take on that include the presidency, i certainly would not preclude that. >> the one thing i don't get in all that with you supporting mitt romney -- i don't not get that. he's a very capable man and politician but i don't get you ever playing second fiddle to somebody in any official capacity. i couldn't see you being a vice president for example. >> i said that all along. i think it's unlikely i'll being asked. >> it's not your bag, is it? >> no.

i said it over and over again. i think i'm much better as a principal than as a second fiddle. i think my penalty is more like that. so that's why i've said all along that i think it's highly unlikely that i would ever be vice president of the united states. >> but maybe president. >> who knows? you know, life has brought me some amazing twists and turns. being here in this office i will tell you is amazing to me in and of itself. if life has more twists and turns for me and opportunities for me to do good and feel fulfilled, do good for my country that's given me so much, that would be a great opportunity but i have no idea whether that's going to happen or not and neither do you. in the end you just be true to yourself and follow your inner compass. that's what i try to do every day. >> governor, thank you very much. i've thoroughly enjoyed seeing your office. can we see the rest of the statehouse? >> absolutely we can. second oldest operating statehouse in america. let's go see it. [ jane ] how did i get here?

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what is in your head? what's the demeanor you're trying to kroouate as you march? >> i'm trying to be in charge and to give off the minute i walk through this door, to give all the people who will be sitting here and the people in the gallery the sense that i'm in charge. i'm the governor. and i think it's so important that people have that image of a person. >> it's like a mini senate, isn't it? >> it is. it's a beautiful chamber. that's where i stand. >> when you're standing there doing your thing, your mind must occasionally flash forward to a slightly bigger stage, doesn't it, what would be like to give a state of the union. >> i'll tell you what it does. i sit here and think to myself, how did a guy from two regular middle class parents in

livingston get here? that's what -- i've given three state of the states and three budget addresses -- >> unlike barack obama, for you, your reputation is that you get these through and delivered. that must bring with it a certain nerve that comes with it, where you think it's going to be a bit tough, i've got to live up to my reputation. >> yeah. i think that's good though to have that edge to not take anything for granted. i have to sing for my supper. i've got to prove to the legislature that my plan is the right direction to take our state in and be willing to fight for it. >> it's a key thing for any politician, and we touched on this earlier, it's not just having good ideas, you've got to have the negotiating skill to get them passed and delivered. that is really what being a politician is all about, isn't it? >> it's about accomplishments,

yeah. >> it's why you're called politicians. >> i always thought of politics as the art of the possible. and it's not my phrase, but i've always believed that it's the art of the possible. and what is possible that you can make reality? to me, it's not just about giving speeches. if you do that, people will tire of that relatively quickly. it's about in the american parlance, it's about putting touchdowns in the end zone. it's about scoring. it's about accomplishing and it's what relationships do you develop along the way that allows people to trust you. if i say if you do this, i promise you that you'll deliver that, he's got to know that i will. he's got to trust me. that doesn't happen. especially with people of the opposite party. so you have to spend time on the relationships and i try to do that and i think it's been successful to some extent at least. coming up next, does size matter? all your mouth goes thro, do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level.

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tonight, only in america. chris christie can balance the budget but he struggles to balance the scale. should physical size be an issue when it comes to political stardom? listen to what the governor told me. i couldn't help but notice, you're slightly trimmer, governor. am i right? >> i'm working on it. yes, you are, but it is a regular struggle. >> you have lost quite a lot of weight since i last saw you. >> a little bit. we don't take any victory laps in this battle. i've been going through it for 20 plus years. >> are you now on a bit of a

mission? >> you know, i'm intermittently on a mission on this stuff. that's why i'm reluctant to say anything more than just i'm trying to be healthier, i'm eating better, i've been working with a trainer on a regular basis and worked before we met today. and i'm trying. because i'm getting ready to be 50. i'll be 50 this fall and i'm starting to feel my own mortality and i have to be around for my kids and hopefully grand children. so you start to think about it in a way that you don't think about it as a younger man. >> well, it's working. keep going, governor. >> thank you, piers. >> good for the governor. chris christie, if you go by body mass index, at least five american presidents were obese. william howard taft tipped the scales at 345 pounds. he had a special white house bathtub. grover cleveland, william mckinley, zachary taylor and teddy roosevelt.